Medicare Study Finds Gaps In Treatment For Philadelphia's Chronically Ill

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Results of a four-year study shows chronically ill Medicare patients in the country are not getting the care they want in their final days.

The Dartmouth Atlas Project documented trends relating to chronically ill patients 65 and older from 2003 through 2007.

In the Philadelphia area, researchers found patients commonly saw 10 or more physicians in the last six months of life with a rate of or 54.4 percent compared to the national average of 33.8 percent.  Area patients averaged 6.9 days in the intensive care unit versus a national average of 3.7 days.

Dr. David Goodman, professor of pediatrics and health policy at Dartmouth and co-director of the project, explains what was learned in the study.

"I think that better communication with patients and families and better coordination of care across the many different places that patients often get their care today will lead to a substantial improvement of quality of care for these very sick patients."

Dr. Goodman says most patients near the end of life would like to avoid hospital care as much as possible and spend as much time as they can with their family in a home environment.

Reported by John McDevitt, KYW Newsradio